A hose is a hollow tube designed to carry fluids from one location to another. Hoses are generally cylindrical in shape having a generally circular cross section. Hoses are used in a variety of different applications. Specific applications include:                A garden hose is used to water plants in a garden or lawn, or to convey water to a sprinkler for the same purpose.        A fire hose is used by firefighters to convey water to the site of a fire.        Air hoses are used in underwater diving (e.g. scuba diving) to carry air from the surface or to from air tanks.        Vacuum cleaner hoses used for transporting the dirt from the vacuum cleaner head to the vacuum cleaner containment unit.        
In addition to the vast applications hoses can be used for, they come in a variety of different designs, for example some hoses are flexible, i.e. they stretch, as in the present invention, and others are not. The remainder of the specification, of the present patent application, will discuss the former type of hose, with specific reference made to current carrying flexible hoses. Stretch hoses, are generally wire reinforced, and fall into two broad categories, vacuum only and electrical. The majority of stretch hoses are vacuum only.
Exhaust systems, air ventilation systems, lint collection systems, oil mist collector systems, HVAC, and of course vacuum cleaners, are just a few of the systems that may implement a current carrying flexible hose. Current carrying hoses may be used with both low and high voltages. In addition, current carrying vacuum cleaner hoses may be integrated with a vast number of different fittings, depending on the desired use. For example, one may attach a brush for cleaning upholstery, or one may attach a wand for reaching those hard to reach places.
Flexible hoses are generally reinforced with a wire helix, this allows the hose to expand and contract when needed, some types of extensible hoses may extend up to four times their compressed length. In addition, the reinforced wire helix gives additional strength to the flexible hose. Flexible hoses are constructed of many different materials, depending on their intended use, such as thermoplastic polyurethane, thermoplastic rubber, and the like. Some flexible hoses are clear, and some are colored, depending on their intended use. Most flexible hoses are lightweight, economical, and have excellent flexibility. In addition, flexible hoses are designed to operate in a variety of different environments and temperature ranges, for example some flexible hoses are designed to operate inside and/or outside and under conditions where the temperature can range from −65F to 200F.
A flexible current carrying hose can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 2,890,264, disclosures of which are hereinafter incorporated by reference, invented by Jack E. Duff, assigned to The Hoover Co. That prior art embodied a means for conducting electricity along the length of a hose so that a suction cleaner may be controlled from one end of the hose or to provide electric current at the end of the hose for operating an electrically actuated device at the hose end. However useful this invention was, there were shortcomings, for example it was difficult to assemble an electrical conductor in the hose wall without impairing the extensibility of the hose.
Other prior art such as U.S. Pat. No. 2,998,474, disclosures of which are hereinafter incorporated by reference, invented by Mary C. Pavlic, also assigned to the Hoover Company, improved on the shortcomings of the Duff invention, however there still existed the problem of great pressure loss and high suction resistance.
A more recent flexible extensible hose is U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,132, disclosures of which are hereinafter incorporated by reference, invented by Noriaki Fujimoto, assigned to Tiger Polymer Corporation, Osaka, Japan, implemented a bellows hose wall with a spiral reinforcing wire and a covered conductor wire. In Fujimoto the reinforcing wire and conducting wire are adjacent to each other, thus limiting the amount of restriction of the hose in a contracted position.
Yet another example of prior art may be seen in United Kingdom Patent 2,322,925, disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference, assigned to Smiths Industries Public Ltd. Co. In this current carting vacuum cleaner hose the hose assembly also consists of a reinforcing wire 4 and a current carrying wire 5. In this prior art reinforcing wire 4 may also be used as a current carrying wire if desired. However, this prior art also has some disadvantages, for example the current carrying vacuum cleaner hose has limited extensibility, because of the wire configuration, as seen in FIG. 2 in that application.